jasdooit

The six biggest economies in the EU are pushing Brussels to speed up the highly anticipated integration of capital markets, aiming to “enhance Europe’s growth prospects,” as stated in a letter delivered on Tuesday to the Eurogroup president and various EU commissioners.

The finance ministers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain state that achieving significant advancements in the newly named “Savings and Investment Union” has turned into an “urgent requirement,” vowing to advance “this crucial initiative,” in a letter sent to EU economic chief Valdis Dombrovskis and Eurogroup President.

“More profound and unified capital markets could boost Europe’s capacity for growth, reinforce its economic independence, and offer a more solid base for funding shared objectives,” the letter stated.

Specifically, the ministers urge EU institutions to achieve a consensus among member states by summer on one of the central components of the capital markets integration plan: the Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP).

The MISP consists of a collection of legislative suggestions from the European Commission designed to enhance the oversight of financial market infrastructures within the union and to elevate their operational efficiency.

“The main goal of the package is to eliminate national barriers and enhance the cross-border distribution of investment funds, allowing investors to have improved access to EU capital markets and enabling companies to benefit from larger pools of capital,” the letter states.

The six nations also urge the EU to push forward its digital payment initiatives, particularly by supporting private pan-European payment systems that can rival US-based companies like Visa and Mastercard, and by speeding up the implementation of the digital euro.

Agreement by the summer

Capital markets enable businesses and governments to secure financing by issuing assets like stocks or debt instruments to investors.

To enhance and unify these markets throughout the EU, the European Commission has introduced a set of legal actions as part of the Savings and Investment Union initiative.

Over the past few months, EU member states and organizations have indicated a more ambitious target, seeking a consensus among co-legislators on the majority of the SIU regulations by June.

Nevertheless, European Union nations are not entirely in agreement regarding the technical details of capital market integration, leading to postponements in the overall strategic plan.

Another important legislative initiative involves updating the securitisation framework, which consists of EU regulations implemented in 2019 aimed at promoting more secure market activities and preventing future financial crises similar to the 2008 global downturn.

The update, intended to ease specific regulations and lower significant operational expenses, is expected to be finalized by autumn 2026, as stated by the signatories.

Digital payments

Six European Union nations also back the creation of further pan-European private digital payment systems, considered a crucial element of the EU’s strategic independence, as the majority of digital transactions are currently handled via US-based networks.

According to 2025 European Central Bank statistics, Mastercard and Visa make up 61% of card transactions and almost 100% of international ones.

In this scenario, the six nations are also advocating for a faster implementation of a public digital payment system: the digital euro. Still being discussed, it would function as an electronic version of cash, issued by the European Central Bank, providing another payment method in addition to physical currency and bank-issued cards.

The initiative is encountering major setbacks within the European Parliament. Specifically, the primary rapporteur for the matter, Spanish centre-right MEP Fernando Navarrete, is advocating to limit the digital euro to offline transactions solely, in an effort to prevent it from rivaling existing private systems like Visa and Mastercard.

The six countries stated in the letter, ‘We advocate for the quick completion of the legislative process for the digital euro and encourage the European Parliament to adopt the Council’s position in establishing the digital euro (in both online and offline forms) as a full, interoperable, and sovereign European payment option for citizens across Europe.’

The co-legislators initially planned for the complete implementation of the digital euro by the end of 2026. However, because of delays in the parliament, the six countries have not established a particular adoption timeline.